. >> reporter: mohan merjani, an indian textile magnate, held the licenses for gloria vanderbilt and coca-cola clothing. >> i said fantastic. let's call it tommy hill because no one will really be able to pronounce tommy hilfiger. so he said no, no, no, go by your real name because nobody else has the name tommy hilfiger. and do you think people can really pronounce yves st. laurent? >> reporter: with that first line hilfiger established himself as a classic american brand. >> i love iconic america. i love hollywood. i love rock and roll. and i wanted to incorporate that inspiration into my design work. >> reporter: and soon he was an all-american success story. his company was generating $100 million in revenues. ♪ but then somehow, somewhere it took a turn. >> in 1992 you kind of embraced street wear. is that fair to say? >> street wear was actually embracing me. because my preppie clothes became so popular amongst kids in boarding schools, colleges. all of a sudden the youth on the street started wearing my athletic-inspired clothes with the big logos. ♪ the boys are back in t